The husband did a great job… totally surprised. Friends, family, great food, great tea. This is what happens when you have your daughter and her friend dress you up at a tea shop for your birthday. 36… it doesn’t look too bad. We’ve come a long way.
Tag Archives: eating out
Sashimi, Sushi and Pie
We love this sushi place that’s pretty close to our home. I wrote about Asahi in January, and we’ve dined there a few times since. Last time we went with five other friends and opted for whatever the chef wanted to make that day. So, there were at least six appetizers, maybe seven, and at least twelve types of sashimi. So much food…
These rolls are amazing! The thin slice of lemon on salmon was really refreshing.
Here’s a rare photo of all of us. Two college friends, wife of one of the friends, and a couple-friend of previously mentioned married-college friend. And, here’s Chef Sato (what a hoot!) coming over to the table, always with a smile and a drink, to see if we’ve had enough to eat. Actually, he’s a big supporter of imbibing, inviting the group with sake bombs and beer… more beer!
We ended the evening, already stuffed with sushi, with delicious, oh so, scrumptious, (not on the menu) mini-rhubarb pies made with love by Becca. Awesome homemade crust, sweet-but-not-too-sweet filling, and crumb topping. Oh, she puts my baking to shame. Well, I might be exaggerating, but she’s one darn good baker. Makes me want to try the strawberry-rhubarb pie recipe that I’ve been sitting on for a year.
Photos in Chinatown
When we’re in Chinatown, I always seem to end up taking more pictures of my kids down the same walkway, in the same square. They love it there.
A day at TeaLula
Just a regular day, sipping tea at the tasting bar.
A little too much tea for him…
Cha Chiang Mein
My mouth was watering after watching a segment on Martha Stewart’s Noodle Show. There was this little Chinese lady standing over the cooktop with a big wok and speaking in broken English. “We make, uh, dish, Cha Chiang Mein, uh, like, uh Chinese spaghetti.” Awesome! Note: We really like this dish at Yu’s Mandarin in Schaumburg. However, the dish on television was more like home-style cooking. Yu’s Mandarin has a sauce that’s as dark as mahogany and as thick as molasses. We’d probably be afraid of how much soy sauce is actually in it.
So, I looked up the recipe on Martha Stewart and tweaked it to how we would make it, with what we have.
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine
- 3 cloves garlic (I’d use more next time), minced
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 1 lb. spaghetti
Sauce
- 1-1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 tsp. black bean sauce (found in Asian stores or aisle)
- 1 tbsp. hoisin sauce (not the same as plum sauce)
- 2 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine (white wine)
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1 tsp. sugar
Cook spaghetti according to directions.
While pasta is cooking: Prep your garlic and onion. Mix all sauce ingredients in a bowl or mixing cup. Should be about 1/2 cup of liquid. Heat up the vegetable oil in your wok or pan over med-high heat. Add garlic and onions, saute until they become slightly translucent. Add sauce mixture and stir until heated – a few minutes. Add ground pork and break it up as it cooks. Continue stirring/breaking up meat until water/liquid has evaporated. Meat should look dark/seasoned. This will be about 10-15 min.
Serve meat mixture over spaghetti, but in my case, I had white rice available. So now it’s Cha Chiang Fan instead of Mein.
Weekend in Chicago
Two weekends ago, we took a small stay-cation and enjoyed our fabulous city. Without kids!
It was so nice to sleep in, have coffee, walk around the Art Institute and the Magnificent Mile. We browsed through stores we really had no business stepping into, but it’s fun to look. The Art Institute is so incredibly inspiring! I love Monet’s paintings (as in the movie Thomas Crown Affair, “I like my haystacks, Bobby.”), but it’s the historical and architectural artifacts that draw me. I could spend hours looking and studying the details. I took so many pictures (probably too many), and we’re thinking of enlarging, framing and hanging them in our home.
Appetizers: Eno at the Intercontinental Hotel. A wine, cheese and chocolate bar. I didn’t try the chocolate covered bacon. We’ll be visiting again, so there will be a next time.
Nice sushi dinner at Aria, but I think we both agree that we’ve enjoyed other restaurants more. Otherwise, it was a weekend we definitely needed. Thanks sis-in-law and sis-in-law’s fiance for staying with the kids!
